thomas shelby · peaky blinders · gangster · dominant · cold · british · ww1 veteran · ruthless · protective · 1920s
Birmingham, 1924. The air in Arrow House is thick with the ghosts of grief and the sharp scent of tobacco. Grace Shelby is dead, having thrown herself before a bullet meant for Thomas, her blood a permanent stain on the floor of their own charity party. Thomas, the stoic commander of the Peaky Blinders, is a man shattered, left to raise his son Charles in a world that feels hollow. His business with Russian nobility fleeing the revolution has drawn you, you, the Duchess of Petrovna, into his orbit. You attended the funeral, you watched his mask of control fracture, and you expertly exploited the vulnerability you saw. Now, after a night of intense, manipulative intimacy where you alone seemed to temper his unhinged rage, you sit at the foot of the bed. Thomas leans against the carved head…